Whew! We made it through 2009! So many companies have been hit hard and/or have failed due to this lousy economy. Here at Catalogs.com, we’ve sadly lost a few accounts due to bankruptcies and some companies simply going “belly up”, but thank goodness… not too many.

We are ending our 13th year with a record 650++ clients, hitting our 1,000,000th UNIQUE visitor during a 1 month period, developing new marketing models that have proven to drive in more qualified traffic, and securing amazing publicity for our company.

Running a company and having to be responsible for the well being, happiness and financial security of many employees puts a whole new perspective on one’s priorities.

Every January 1st, I make a mental (and often a written) note about my goals and aspirations for the coming year. This year, from a business perspective, lots of things will change:

Top 10 Resolutions

1. To work with our Account Executives in becoming better marketing consultants to our merchants, and helping to educate our sales team to be the very best they can be. This includes reading, training and role-playing over and over again.

2. To identify NEW revenue channels and give our merchants MORE bang for their buck.

3. To more carefully monitor spending and identify areas where we can cut down on frivolous expenses.

4. To drive more qualified traffic to our website through more organic searching.

5. To really embrace social media and become more entrenched in Twitter, Facebook and other avenues.

6. To lead more group “brainstorming sessions” with employees to help identify new areas of untapped growth and interest.

7. To continue to reward key employees for outstanding accomplishments and recognize them publicly.

8. To continue to run the company with a “squeaky clean” attitude and always being honest, forthright and ethical when dealing with clients.

9. To make our customer service and customer satisfaction our #1 priority.

10. To have MORE fun working and smiling every day at work. Also, by attempting to be grateful for what we have (and not envious of others) is a good place to start.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Last month I was thrilled to be featured in an interview in the WomenandBiz.com e-Magazine, a site that is devoted to women and all of their business pursuits.

I had a lovely conversation with the author of the recently released Ask Others/Trust Yourself and Founder of WomenandBiz.com, Elisa Balabram, who launched the site back in 2003, providing a wealth of information for today's business woman.

From marketing tips to money management, legal issues to the perils of how to balance work and family, WomenandBiz has the answers and the guidance for female entrepreneurs of all ages and areas of expertise in today's competitive business market.

Hope you enjoy the interview, and thanks again to WomenandBiz.com for the feature and for all of their beneficial resources.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There is nothing as precious as life-long friendships.

How many of us are lucky enough to boost, brag and revel in friendships that began in the 3rd grade? Or other friendships that began in college and continue to last 20++ years?

I am one of those extremely lucky gals. Four of us just spent a weekend in October reminiscing, giggling, laughing, crying, joking, eating, drinking, dancing and giggling (did I mention that already?).

There is NOTHING as special as spending time with old buddies, when you have no reservations about spilling your guts, or telling one another the most intimate thoughts. An equally amazing feat is when year after year, you know that you can speak your mind and be convinced that no repercussions will occur and that no one will think poorly of you, or differently. Friendship that is everlasting is invincible. And I, personally, know that I’m extraordinarily blessed to have such dear friends.

As we left behind 3 husbands, 9 children, and a ton of responsibilities for three blissful nights, our departing words summed it up … “Paybacks will be hell, but it was well worth it.”

Thanks girls … for another spectacular weekend!

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My opinion on the whole Tiger Woods debacle is this - It's bad enough that he cheated on his wife who he has fathered two children with setting a bad example for fans, sportsmen and young people, but from more of a business standpoint, he didn't even take into account the list of multi-million dollar corporations who have invested in him and his squeaky clean image.

From a sponsorship standpoint, high profile companies are looking for people who have good ethics as well as a sense of family values to represent them. They are paying for a positive image and want a role model who has a clean slate holding up and supporting their merchandise. By Tiger having one, two or three indiscretions (who knows anymore, they just keep coming out of the woodwork, don't they?), I wonder now during the aftermath if he believes that any of it was really worth it.

From what I have read, Gatorade has dropped him and I'm sure alot of other sponsors are thinking twice now because they want to make sure they have a respectable figure representing their product.

Not only did Tiger screw his wife by allegedly screwing other women, but he has also screwed his future business prospects in the process.

In other words, his head wasn't in the game.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (2)

Zappos has turned a corner and decided to enter a world of competition. As a professional who has almost 14 years under her belt in the cataloging industry, I can confidently state that there are only two ways in which a new cataloger like Zappos will be successful in competing for holiday business via a catalog:

#1 The cataloger MUST have pre-qualified consumers. This means the consumer must actually request the catalog (this means to ASK/ SEEK) the catalog.

#2 The cataloger mails to its own internal database of shoppers.

The Holiday/Christmas mailing season is extraordinarily competitive. Thousands and thousands of long-time proven catalogers mail 2 to 3 months in advance, PRIOR to Christmas, then many will re-mail again the first week of December. Having said this, I believe that Zappos might be quite successful, (even though they are newbies to the field) yet they still have a lot to learn. My take is this –

Zappos has wisely decided to expand and promote their handbags, jewelry, clothing and fragrances (in addition to shoes). They apparently understand buying habits (especially those of women). A new pair of shoes often requires a new purse, and certainly no outfit is complete without the proper accessories (i.e. jewelry) with all items available to purchase at the same time.

Zappos has an enormous existing database of online shoppers. This may be an advantage when it comes to reminding previous customers about their brand, via a catalog. Even Aaron Magness, director for brand marketing and business development at Zappos.com in Henderson, Nevada said that one lesson he has learned is that “our lapsed customers have responded very well” to the catalogs, referring to shoppers who have not made recent purchases on Zappos.com.

Zappos has tasted the “sweet taste of high ROI’s” according to their mailing partner, Cameron Brown, President at King Fish, who stated that “So far, an average order from the catalog is more than twice the size of an average order that began on Zappos.com. "

Zappos has an extremely successful online database, consisting of already established, strictly online buyers.
What about the consumers who enjoy “flipping” and “feeling” the actual pages of a catalog. In fact, a vast majority of our existing 650+ merchants on Catalogs.com have shared a secret with us …. Most consumers are flipping, turning corners down on favorite pages, and then going to their computer (both at home and at the office) and quickly and efficiently typing in item numbers and placing the order online.

This type of buyer is different that a strictly online buyer. This type of shopper needs, wants and desires a print catalog which is VERY DIFFERENT than Zappos’s existing online database.

If Zappos were to join the Catalogs.com family, they would be taking a major step towards enjoying a whole new level of profitability by BUILDing a list of real and qualified catalog shoppers.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)